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Woman: “Mr Poirot, are you listening to me?”
Hercule Poirot: “Oh, mademoiselle, of course I listen to what you say, but I hear what you mean.”
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Atmosphere. Memory. Staging.
What remains with us is not only what happened, but what resonates within us.
In my main profession I’m an archivist, but in my spare time I work with heritage sites. I’m now looking to expand this into independent consultancy.
Picturesque Pasts is for those who work with history — not to explain it, but to give it a shape that can be felt, heard, and remembered.
My work is a conversation between past and present. I believe that history is more than a sequence of events; it is a living mood that can be staged and experienced.
I’ve spoken and sung on stage, curated a scenic choir performance, and brought lectures to life by stepping into character — from the calm, factual, slightly chaotic Detective Inspector Carla Conker to the curious, quick-witted traveller Martha Robinson of 1845.
Before that, I also spent time in the world of football — one of few women there — giving interviews in front of microphones and cameras.
My focus lies where history, aesthetics and emotion meet, with a particular eye for Englishness. I work with atmosphere and emotional scenography to make the past tangible — creating settings in which memory already lingers, waiting to be brought to the surface.
I help shape narrative depth, visual and tonal coherence, and an awareness of what happens in the space between stage and audience, between place and visitor: tone, meaning, resonance.
Whether in theatre, museums or heritage sites — my aim is that what is shown does not simply pass, but leaves a trace.
With attention to subtext.
With care for atmosphere.
With a sense for the past.
Let’s make your story resonate.